DJI has just unveiled the FlyCart 100 in China, a monster heavy-lift drone built to haul 80 kilograms (176 pounds) of cargo at a time. It’s designed for tough tasks – think carrying building supplies to a mountaintop or rushing medical gear to an isolated village. Launched in mid-2025, the FlyCart 100 is DJI’s biggest delivery drone yet, aimed at industries like disaster relief, infrastructure, and logistics. 

What’s the FlyCart 100 All About?

DJI pitched the FlyCart 100 (FC100) as a rugged workhorse for tough jobs. With a whopping 149.9 kg max takeoff weight, it can lug up to 80 kg on one battery or 65 kg when using two batteries simultaneously. That’s a 60% boost in lift capacity over the smaller FlyCart 30. That puts the total takeoff weight at two average adult humans (and still have room)!

This drone is built for mission-critical operations in places where trucks or helicopters can’t go. DJI envisions it flying supplies up mountains, along coastlines, into disaster zones, and across rugged industrial sites. Its “Cargo Mode” lets it drop packages on-site, and a “Winch Mode” with a 30-meter retractable rope lets it lower gear precisely into wells, rooftops or tight spots. Unlike delivery drones you see buzzing in cities, the FlyCart 100 is an industrial workhorse – the kind of drone you call when a helicopter is too expensive or impossible.

FlyCart 100 Specs and Performance

  • Payload: 80 kg on a single battery, or 65 kg with two batteries
  • Range: About 6 km fully loaded with one battery, 12 km with two batteries, and up to 26 km (≈16 miles) with no cargo.
  • Speed: Up to ~72 km/h (20 m/s) top speed.
  • Flight altitude: Can reach 6,000 meters (almost 20,000 ft) above sea level – that’s higher than Mt. Blanc!
  • Charging: Hot-swappable batteries. A full battery (41 Ah) can be recharged in 9 minutes using a 12,000W/15,000W fast charger. That means you could land, swap or charge batteries, and relaunch in the time it takes to brew a cup of coffee. The batteries are rated for ~1,500 charge cycles before replacement.
  • Endurance: Around 18 minutes of flight time when fully loaded. It carries enough juice for serious tasks, thanks to its dual-battery design.

Every spec is tuned for efficiency and power. Its 62-inch carbon-fiber propellers spin in a coaxial 8-rotor setup. This multi-rotor arrangement minimizes vibration and maximizes thrust, so the drone stays rock-steady even in up to 12 m/s winds. It’s IP55-rated for dust and rain, and can operate from –20°C to 40°C. 

All this adds up to real-world power: Flight tests show it can fly 6 km carrying 80 kg on one battery, or 12 km with 65 kg on two. When empty, 26 km is a cakewalk. Those ranges make it useful for remote delivery routes. For example, hauling a cement mixer up a mountain or deliver medicine in flood zones. In practical terms, you could use it to transport heavy gear to a remote construction site or fly urgent parts to an offshore rig – things that would normally take trucks or helicopters.

Power and Endurance: Fast Charging, Long Life

One of the FlyCart 100’s secret weapons is its battery system. It uses DJI’s high-capacity DB2160 batteries (41 Ah each) that are hot-swappable. That means you can land, pop one battery out and slide in another without turning everything off. Even better, DJI offers a supercharger that can top off a battery in just 9 minutes. Yes, nine! A fleet of these drones could keep flying nearly nonstop, swapping batteries like a baton in a relay race. DJI even engineered the batteries to self-heat in subzero temps, so they don’t quit on you in winter.

Longevity is built in, too. Each battery is rated for ~1,500 full recharge cycles. That’s a workhorse design – in a busy operation you could recharge daily for years before a battery needs replacing. For comparison, a typical phone battery might last ~500 cycles.

Safety Systems During Operation

The FlyCart 100 has a full set of sensors and safety features. Instead of a normal camera, it uses a 5-direction fisheye vision system plus LiDAR and millimeter-wave radar. Together these sensors map the surroundings at up to 300,000 points per second, detecting obstacles like vehicles, people or even tiny branches. It won’t blindly dump a heavy payload on your head. The system can warn ground crews (via AR overlays) and automatically adjust flight paths to avoid collisions.

If anything goes wrong, there’s a built-in parachute too. This isn’t a novelty – DJI claims it can deploy the parachute at up to 100 meters altitude while the drone is fully loaded, ensuring a soft 6 m/s descent. In plain terms, that’s a controlled drop that keeps people and property safe if the drone loses power. DJI also put in automatic pre-flight checks, redundant flight controllers and even ADS-B to spot nearby crewed aircraft. The motto is “no single point of failure” – the electronics are triple-redundant on critical systems.

Cargo handling is smart as well. The FlyCart 100 offers two delivery modes: a retractable 30-meter winch and a fixed 10-meter cable. Both can automatically reel out with active damping so your load doesn’t swing like a pendulum. There’s even a built-in load sensor and auto-adjusting altitude, so the drone won’t jerk if the package shifts. All together, it’s designed for precision: hover 100m up, lower a pallet into a window or fishing boat, and fly away without a hitch.

Related Reading: AVSS Drone Parachute for DJI Matrice 4 Gets FAA Approval

Delivery and Logistics with the FlyCart 100

The FC 100 is a heavy-duty solution for problems that traditional logistics struggle with. Last-mile delivery usually means small packages dropping to your backyard. Here, think mid-mile and wholesale delivery: moving large goods or bulk items around.

For example, imagine a mining camp on a mountain with no road access. Usually you’d use helicopters (expensive) or wait for ice roads (seasonal). With FlyCart 100, you could airlift generators, construction materials, even fuel barrels quickly. A proof-of-concept: DJI suggests it could carry a cement mixer or engine up a steep slope. In emergency response, it could shuttle pallets of supplies into disaster zones when roads are flooded or blocked. The point is speed and flexibility.

Medical logistics is another application. Much like Zipline’s operations, a heavy drone can dash blood, vaccines or equipment where vans can’t. Except FlyCart 100 can carry dozens of Zipline drones’ worth of payload in one go. It could resupply a remote clinic or deliver emergency kits during a bushfire. Agriculture and infrastructure sectors can use it too: farmers might drop fertilizer or harvested crops via drone, or utilities could fly parts to power lines. Basically, if something is heavy or remote, this drone can handle it.

Last year Zipline’s network made over 1 million deliveries (that’s 22 million vaccine doses) and flew 100+ million miles, saving countless lives. That was with ~8 lb drones. Now imagine scaling that by tenfold payload with FlyCart 100. The potential cost and time savings are huge. It also fits into warehouse operations: a fulfillment center could use FlyCart to move pallets between sites or to drones landing pads. And DJI’s own DeliveryHub software plus cloud platform (DJI Driver) lets fleets of these drones be managed like a modern transport network.

The FC 100 launch comes at a moment when drone delivery is hot. The commercial drone market is growing fast (roughly $30 billion in 2024, heading to $33+ billion by 2025). Cargo and logistics drones are among the fastest-growing segments. DJI already dominates civilian drones globally – about 70% market share of connected drones. That means this new FlyCart 100 could hit the scene hard.

Logistics companies are watching closely: analyst reports show drone logistics is expected to explode in the 2020s (projects a near-50% CAGR from 2025 to 2030). Walmart, FedEx, and Alibaba are all testing drone deliveries. In fact, Walmart says it’s completed over 10,000 drone deliveries across seven states, and Amazon’s Andy Jassy projects drones could eventually deliver half a billion packages per year by 2030. Meanwhile, Zipline quietly flies deliveries (medicines in rural Africa and the US) on tiny fixed-wing drones.

The FlyCart 100 doesn’t directly compete with those small-package networks – it’s targeting a different slice of the pie: heavy cargo and industrial supply chains. If anything, it expands what “drone delivery” can mean. With 80kg lifts and fast charging, it could be the backbone of a drone trucking fleet. For instance, a warehouse launching a FlyCart 100 to shuttle pallets 10 km down a highway to a last-mile distribution center. In theory, that could cut weeks off delivery times for remote factories or help rebuild hurricane-hit communities.

DJI FlyCart 100 Availability And Market Regulations

DJI already sells a smaller FlyCart 30 globally for 40kg lifts (it even got FAA clearance for Remote ID). The FlyCart 100 is in China first, but if demand is there, DJI may sell it worldwide. Even if not, competitors are lurking. Other heavy-lift drones exist (e.g. Griff Aviation’s Griff 300 can carry 227 kg for under $250k), but DJI’s is relatively affordable (~$12,400 starting price) and benefits from DJI’s massive support network.

What does the regulatory landscape look like?

  • USA (FAA)

Any drone above 55 lbs (~25 kg) is not covered by the normal Part 107 rules. The FlyCart 100 (149.9 kg max) blows way past that. Operators would need special approvals (like an exemption under Section 44807 or operating under Part 91/135), essentially treating it like a small airplane. Amazon’s Prime Air earned an FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate in 2020, and MK30 got certified in late 2024. The smaller FlyCart 30 got “Remote ID” certification in Jan 2024, letting it fly in US airspace. But right now, FlyCart 100 is China-only. The FAA would likely require extensive type certification (safety tests, pilot licensing, etc.) before it’s allowed stateside. Remember, current FAA rules also cap drones at 400 ft altitude, 100 mph speed, and must remain in line-of-sight (unless you get a waiver).

Beyond the Part 107 barrier, the FAA has started allowing some deliveries with restrictions. For example, recent rules permit doorstop parachute drops, and the FAA recently approved nationwide drone delivery under a safety plan (parachute or tether rules). But right now, any heavy drone would likely need the Section 44807 exemption or fall under Part 91/135 to carry goods. The good news is the FAA is fast-tracking beyond-visual operations thanks to a 2024 law. So by late 2020s we may see these big drones flying commercially in the US – but not without rigorous testing and oversight.

  • Europe (EASA):

In Europe, the story is similar.  EU’s drone laws (since 2021) require all drones >250g to register, and heavier drones go into special categories. A behemoth like FlyCart 100 would fall under the “certified” category. That means it needs an official type certification and airworthiness certificate – basically the same process as for an airplane. The operator would need an Air Operator Certificate, and pilots would need a proper license. In other words, it’s possible but a big hurdle. EU also has “U-space” corridors being built for long-range flights, but it’s early days.

Some EU countries have piloted drone corridors (e.g. in Switzerland or Italy) where BVLOS flights occur under special authorization. It’s plausible that construction companies or energy firms could operate FlyCart drones on private networks first, before general permissions are granted.

  • China (where FlyCart 100 debuted)

It has been very proactive with drone integration. Companies like SF Express have run large-scale package drones for years, and regulators have special rules for drone delivery hubs. So DJI launching there first makes sense – fewer barriers to initial flights. If it proves safe, China’s regulators might even streamline approvals for wider use.

  • Worldwide

Many countries are tightening BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) rules. The U.S. FAA is actively working on a new BVLOS rule – Transportation Secretary Duffy said they plan to propose expanded drone delivery rules “in short order”. Transport Canada and others are testing BVLOS networks too. For now, most legal drone deliveries in the US/EU happen under exemptions or limited pilots-in-box approaches.

The FlyCart 100 is a bold bet on the future of logistics. It’s proof that unmanned aircraft can start doing serious freight work. It’s easy to be skeptical, but with global logistics bottlenecks and labor shortages, automating heavy cargo could save companies billions in time and money. The technology is here, and it’s only getting more efficient and cheaper.

FAQs About The DJI FlyCart 100

How much weight can the FlyCart 100 carry?

The FC 100 can carry up to 80 kg using a single battery, or 65 kg when powered by two batteries at once. That’s a huge step up compared to previous delivery drones and gives it a real edge for bulk transport.

How fast and how far can the FlyCart 100 fly?

Fully loaded, the FlyCart 100 can fly up to 6 km on a single battery or 12 km on two batteries. If it’s empty, you can expect up to 26 km range. Its top speed is around 72 km/h, so it covers ground quickly for such a big machine.

What makes the FlyCart 100 safer than other delivery drones?

The FlyCart 100 has five-direction vision sensors, LiDAR, and radar to avoid obstacles. If something goes wrong, it can deploy a parachute—yes, even fully loaded—and land safely. It does automatic pre-flight checks, has triple-redundant flight controllers, and includes load sensors for secure cargo drops. There’s no single point of failure.

How does it handle delivering cargo to tricky locations?

The FlyCart 100 offers two cargo delivery modes: a retractable 30-meter winch and a fixed 10-meter cable, both with smart load sensors and active damping. This means it can lower gear gently and precisely—even into tight spots like wells or onto rooftops—without swinging the cargo around dangerously.

How does the FlyCart 100 compare to Amazon Prime Air and Zipline drones?

DJI FlyCart 100 is built for heavy cargo. While it can carry up to 80 kg, while Amazon’s Prime Air drones max out at 2.3 kg (5 lbs) and Zipline drones at about 3.6–4 kg (8 lbs). The FlyCart 100 is built for industrial jobs—think moving pallets—while Amazon and Zipline are focused on smaller, lighter packages for consumers or medicine.

What are the current regulations for using the FlyCart 100?

If you’re in China, the FC 100 is already available under local drone regulations. In the U.S. and Europe, things are stricter—heavy drones like this need special approvals, including type certification, airworthiness checks, and operator licenses. It’s not covered by the usual commercial drone rules (like FAA Part 107 in the US). 

Will the FlyCart 100 be available worldwide?

Right now, the FlyCart 100 is only available in China. DJI may expand sales if there’s enough global demand, but right now it’s not in Western markets. DJI’s smaller FlyCart 30 is already available worldwide, including the US.

How much does the FlyCart 100 cost?

The FlyCart 100 starts at about $12,400, which is relatively affordable for its size and capabilities, especially compared to other heavy-lift drones that can cost $250,000 or more.